# Movies you've seen recently (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [August 27, 2024, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288 "2024-08-27T05:10:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 272
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/5424 "2026-04-26T19:34:20Z")
Thanks. I couldn’t find a book called Mission to Mars by Andy Weir. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/5425 "2026-04-26T19:47:53Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > The title is _The Martian_. Wow, I’m tired. Thanks. Yes, please check out The Martian. Mission to Mars was this very dull movie: > **[Mission to Mars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_to_Mars)** > > Mission to Mars is a 2000 American science fiction adventure film directed by Brian De Palma, written by Jim and John Thomas and Graham Yost, and suggested by Disney's theme park attraction of the same name. > The film depicts the first crewed Mars exploration mission going awry; American astronaut Jim McConnell (Gary Sinise) helps to coordinate a rescue mission for a colleague. The film also stars Tim Robbins, Don Cheadle, Connie Nielsen, Jerry O'Connell and Kim Delaney. Released theatrically ... ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/5426 "2026-04-26T20:08:41Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > > [@needscoffee](#): > > > > I disliked him long before I knew he was a scientologist. He’s a good actor, but he’s not everyone’s cup of tea. > > Same here. But I think he’s a very one-note actor. I’ve long thought that Cruise was a pompous ass; the scientology crap is just the icing on the cake. So I’m biased, but I think he’s highly overrated as an actor. I actually tend to avoid movies that feature Cruise just because I can’t stand the guy. > [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > > [@Mahaloth](#): > > > > Mission To Mars, from the same author, > > The title is _The Martian_. Interesting side note, IIRC, is that Andy Weir could not get a publisher interested in _The Martian_, which was his first novel, and ended up self-publishing. It started becoming more and more popular, and the rest is history – a major motion picture, more books, and more movies, notably the recent _Project Hail Mary_ and likely _Artemis_ at some point. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/5427 "2026-04-26T20:10:43Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I’ve long thought that Cruise was a pompous ass; the scientology crap is just the icing on the cake. So I’m biased, but I think he’s highly overrated as an actor. He’s a good actor. He’s given great performances. Shame he got involved with a cult. I don’t really know how they do anything for him. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/5428 "2026-04-26T20:34:50Z")
Looking for something to watch and came across “The Eiger Sanction”, with Eastwood climbing mountains to kill people. I saw it way back when it was new, but have no real memory of it, so I thought how bad could it be. Really, really, really bad. Didn’t make it through the first twenty minutes. The 70s were great for music, but not for film or clothing. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/5429 "2026-04-26T20:44:51Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The 70s were great for music, but not for film… [![](https://44.media.tumblr.com/e8477a9c7a13bb0eb649aa529cabf97a/9924fa6f71904780-3c/s540x810_f1/f83d2f26672c8348f56293622c178143d564cced.gifv) ](https://44.media.tumblr.com/e8477a9c7a13bb0eb649aa529cabf97a/9924fa6f71904780-3c/s540x810_f1/f83d2f26672c8348f56293622c178143d564cced.gifv) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/5430 "2026-04-26T22:20:40Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > “It’s based on a novel by a man named Weir.” It’s a thousand pages, give or take a few., > [@Chefguy](#): > > Didn’t make it through the first twenty minutes. It comes together in the end. I like it. But, it is typical mid-70s Eastwood. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/5431 "2026-04-26T23:26:04Z")
There are exceptions, of course. ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/5432 "2026-04-26T23:29:29Z")
**Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie** (2023). Available on Peacock, but maybe nowhere else(?). If you liked the Monk series, then this is a bit of nostalgia with most of the cast from the original series featured, and references to some that are not. Although it is a murder mystery comedy, I was surprised that it also dealt with suicide as well. I had not seen the last season of Monk (we moved around the time it aired) so there was some information that is alluded to that I had to look up because I did not know it. That said, it was not really necessary in order to understand what was happening, it just was something that confused me a little since I had seen most of the series. The comedy and the mystery were pretty good and sub-plot involving suicide was touching. Getting to see the old gang back together again along with seeing where they are now in their lives was cool as well. On the whole it moves along fairly quickly like you would expect a longish episode of the series to be. It ties everything up neatly in a way that does not make you think a sequel (or a new series) is imminent. `//i\\` ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/5433 "2026-04-26T23:55:29Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Mission to Mars was this very dull movie: Ah, yes, the Disney ride where I discovered (while riding with my boss) how nauseated I could become when my inner ear was significantly agitated. Fortunately I kept it together, but I had to sit for a while. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/5434 "2026-04-27T00:07:20Z")
> [@icon](#): > > Getting to see the old gang back together again along with seeing where they are now in their lives was cool as well. I really enjoyed seeing them all again too. I remember being surprised at how much Ted Levine (Stottlemeyer) had aged. We’re the same age, but he looked and moved like a _much_ older person. And Jason Gray-Stanford (Disher) had a heart transplant in 2020! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/5435 "2026-04-27T00:23:39Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I don’t really know how they do anything for him. I think that Cruise is convinced Scientology is responsible for his success. And in a Freemason way they possibly are able to facilitate some things in his favour. But I’m not sure that’s provable. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/5436 "2026-04-27T03:15:12Z")
You want a run, check out _ **Apocalypto** _. From faulty memory: main guy takes a spear to the shoulder, then runs non -stop across South America. Least that’s how I remember it. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/5437 "2026-04-27T09:46:00Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > I watched this on Netflix. It is the worst movie I’ve seen in 10 years, and I’m hard-pressed to think of a worse one farther back. As you say, it’s ridiculous, but even worse, it is extremely boring. Totally agree. One of the worst films I’ve watched all the way through. The last ten minutes are basically one long screensaver. I think they were going for a _2001:A Space Odyssey_ vibe but boy howdy did they miss. > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > **Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band** (1978) soon leaving Netflix. > > I clicked on this out of morbid curiosity. I last saw it when it was in theaters when I was 15. I may have seen it twice that summer, so I must have liked it. Since then I have become well-acquainted with its reputation as one of the worst films of the 1970s. So, instead of just writing it off to being a dumb 15 year old, I thought I’d check it out a half-century later. I also saw it in the theatre at roughly the same age. And I totally agree with your assessment of the whole thing. > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Some are actually even good (Aerosmith, Earth Wind and Fire, and Billy Preston.) Abso-frigging-lutely. Admittedly I thought Steve Martin’s rendition of “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” was pretty funny at the time, but then it was 1978 and I was a teenaged boy. > [@Mahaloth](#): > > I’ll name just one worse movie and it is much more recent: > > **Megalopolis** I watched the trailer for this and said “It’s very pretty but what’s it **about**?” If they can’t manage to give you some inkling of the plot or even the general tone of the story in the trailer, it never bodes well for the film. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/5438 "2026-04-27T15:34:41Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The 70s were great for music, but not for film or clothing. IMO. the 70s were one of the best decades for film. One reason is that the Hays Code died in the late 60s, which allowed filmmakers greater freedom. Some examples of great movies from that decade: M\*_A_\*S\*H Patton The French Connection Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Fiddler on the Roof Deliverance Cabaret The Godfather The Godfather Part II American Graffiti The Sting The Conversation Blazing Saddles Chinatown Young Frankenstein Dog Day Afternoon Jaws One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Monty Python and the Holy Grail Network All the President’s Men Rocky Taxi Driver Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope Annie Hall Close Encounters of the Third Kind Grease Halloween Alien Monty Python’s Life of Brian ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/5439 "2026-04-27T15:36:07Z")
I concede the point. My arthritis flare-up is making me cranky. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/5440 "2026-04-27T15:45:26Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I think that Cruise is convinced Scientology is responsible for his success. He may very well believe that. He’d be wrong. Sure, they maybe pull some strings behind the scenes, but Tom Cruise is responsible for his success. He plays likeable or at least relatable guys for the most part. By all accounts he comes prepared for his films and treats everyone as an equal. And he picks films in his range. When he steps outside that, like _Tropic Thunder_, it seems like an act. If Tom Hanks did that, it would be called acting. Still, could anyone prove that, if Michael Caine had taken as much effort for _Jaws 3_ as Tom Cruise takes in his films, J3 wouldn’t be considered a good film? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/5441 "2026-04-27T18:02:15Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I watched the trailer for this and said “It’s very pretty but what’s it **about**?” If they can’t manage to give you some inkling of the plot or even the general tone of the story in the trailer, it never bodes well for the film. I’ve seen trailers that keep the plot very mysterious. Problem with this movie is…it’s just god-awful. It is like what a film student turns in as their magnum opus before they get a real career going. Trash. Adam Driver comes through unscathed. He does a great job acting without a clue what the movie is about. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/5442 "2026-04-27T22:08:46Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > He may very well believe that. He’d be wrong. > > Sure, they maybe pull some strings behind the scenes, but Tom Cruise is responsible for his success. I think it’s less about “pulling strings” and more a belief that some unseen magical force is guiding him to success as a direct result of his dedication to the cult. Scientologists believe some (_checks to make sure this isn’t the Pit_) … questionable things. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288/5443 "2026-04-27T22:17:48Z")
From what I’ve heard, the cult waits on him hand and foot - he’s Scientology’s most famous member and biggest recruitment tool, and they treat him like a demigod. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288.md?page=271) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently-part-2/1006288.md?page=273)